Numbers 3:14–39

¹⁴And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; ^qevery male from a month old and upward you shall list.” ¹⁶So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ^17rAnd these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: ^sLibni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their clans: ^tAmram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari by their clans: ^uMahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

²¹To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. ²²Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was¹ 7,500. ^23vThe clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. ²⁵And the ^wguard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved ^xthe tabernacle, ^ythe tent with ^zits covering, ^athe screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ^26bthe hangings of the court, ^cthe screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^dits cords—all the service connected with these.

²⁷To Kohath belonged the clan of the ^eAmramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. ²⁹The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰with ^fElizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹And their guard duty involved ^gthe ark, ^hthe table, ⁱthe lampstand, ^jthe altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and ^kthe screen; all the service connected with these. ³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

³³To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. ³⁵And the chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ^36lAnd the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the ^mframes of the tabernacle, ⁿthe bars, ^othe pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; ³⁷also ^pthe pillars around the court, with their bases and ^qpegs and ^rcords.

³⁸Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, ^sguarding the sanctuary itself, to protect² the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were ^t22,000.